I was very excited today not only to see that the pollinator activity had finally started in my garden, but excited that I was able to get some pretty pics of these busy guys/gals in action.
Most of the activity at the moment is focused around the collards that have bloomed. The bright lemon yellow flowers are attracting other pollinators as well, like fly bees, and lots of little pollinators that are too small and fast to get good pics of.
Another thing I noticed is the bees seemed a little frantic. None of them were doing their typical "lazy summer days" flower-to-flower visit behavior.
They were zipping from one flower to the next like they had a curfew, and they were all fighting with one another. I suspect that a very cold, icy/snowy winter, which is atypical for our area in Georgia, has taken a toll on the local population, and they are frantically trying to catch up now that it has warmed up and the flowers are finally blooming.
Something else interesting I noticed is that there seemed to be two different types of honey bee, or at least differently marked. Maybe someone with some bee knowledge can tell me if color variation is normal, or if these little guys are different types.
The one above is lighter in color, and doesn't have the black markings the one below does. Their legs and thorax seem different as well.
The bee below seems more "chiseled" or angular than the one above, who has an overall softer appearance. Hard to tell from this pic since the bee below is at a different angle in general.
Any ideas?
